Valerie Jarrett, the brilliant and fashion-forward Special Advisor and BFF to the President, gathered African-American online media geeks onto a special call earlier this week. She told us in her opening remarks that “every vote counts and voters have a clear choice in this election. You can elect people who will work with the president and keep the country moving forward.” Or well, you can let the kooks and Nazis of the Tea Party who actually think the President is somehow, for some reason not a real American citizen take over.

She also said of the POTUS she knows so well:

This election is personal to him. We’ve seen what can happen when people get energized, I want to emphasize how important this is to him. The same energy that elected him is what’s needed to make sure people go and vote.

They want to go back to the old ways of doing things and in the old way of doing things, individual Americans got hurt. Every single person must vote.

Re: FLOTUS, Jarrett talked about how when the First Lady went back to the hood in Chicago to early vote, there was an outpouring of people going to vote early in Illinois. The Obamas are definitely getting out there to defend their many real accomplishments on behalf of the American people and it’s starting to translate into some new energy on the ground.

Jarrett characteristically kept it real. When I asked her why the President was reaching out especially to black voters and what we as bloggers could do to help, she said:

Midterm elections is not an election in which we’ve traditionally voted in high numbers.

People are frustrated and angry. They see all this toxicity on the airwaves. There is a way through that. The president has a vision to improve the quality of African-Americans’ lives and all Americans’ lives.

We have to appreciate what put us in this ditch in the first place. If we lose these important allies in Congress, people need to understand how bad things might become.

If you’re unemployed and looking for a job or working two jobs, you may be hesitant to vote if President Obama is not on the ballot. What you need to know is that even if he is not on the ballot, his vision and his initiatives are.

People died for this – our right to vote. Please reach out to your community – your church, your family, your friends, your community center – and make sure that the people closest to you vote in the same way they did to elect the President.

There is a direct correlation on what he is able to do on your behalf and the People who are in Congress.

Let’s make this year the year that the Tea Party underestimated the black vote. I know you’re working hard and taking time to vote might feel tough right now. But this is a close race and we are fighting not just to have the President’s back, but to fight for our own rights against those who have a problem with blacks voting and having equal rights and what not.

Here’s more from other online sites that took part:

AOL Black Voices – “White House: ‘Every Vote Counts’”: As we enter the home stretch of midterm elections, every vote counts and there is a clear choice in this election, according to White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett. Jarrett made it very clear that if we do not support the candidates that support President Barack Obama and the presidential agenda, then progress will cease because the Republicans have made it clear they will do whatever it takes to stop the presidential agenda. Now that Democrats have begun to aggressively campaign, with the President and First Lady Michelle Obama both making rounds, there seems to be a lot of energy and excitement on the ground that will hopefully translate into votes. For example, when the First Lady went to cast her early vote in Chicago, an outpouring of people headed to the polls to cast early votes as well. Who can say that any of those individuals would have taken the time to vote had the First Lady not stopped in Chicago?

The Root – “Valerie Jarrett Makes Another Plea for Black Voters”: The White House’s last-minute push for black voters continued today, with senior advisor to the president Valerie Jarrett taking questions from black media during a conference call scheduled by the DNC. Jarrett’s opening statement, like much of the Q&A that followed, covered ground that’s been covered a lot in the past few several weeks: Though Obama won’t be on the ticket in the midterms, he needs your help. “Voters have a real choice in this election,” she said. “They can elect and reelect Democratic candidates who are going to join with president Obama to help move our country forward, or they can put Republicans in a position to do what they have been very clear that they intend to do: Obstruct President Obama and stop the change that we all voted for in 2008.”

Politic365 – “Home Stretch to Midterms, Dems Target Unlikely Black Voters”: On Tuesday, during a call with representatives of the online African American community, White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett said that the White House is targeting unlikely African American voters heading into the midterms. During the thirty minute call, Ms. Jarrett admitted, “Those who have been supportive of [President Obama] may not view midterm elections as important. That is why the President has been making the case on the national level, in addition to saying how important the election is generally.” Traditionally, the African American constituency tend to vote more in national presidential elections, and do not turn out significantly during midterms and state and local elections.

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